Not many industries require so many work orders as the construction. Ordering materials, sending field teams out, signing dozens of types of insurance, and hiring equipment are just some documents you’ll have to sign.
This is why digital signatures are so important in this field and why everyone looks forward to their wider adoption.
Now, the concept of signing a document remotely is a familiar thing. Faxed signatures and even telegraph signatures before them were a thing. However, these were nowhere near as widely used or as reliable as the e-signatures.
With this in mind and without further ado, here are a few benefits of implementing digital signatures in construction projects even more widely.
Quick authentication and identity verification
The main reason digital signatures in construction are used remains unchanged – authentication and verifying your identity. Remember that while everything can be manipulated, this is not the only protection method in the digital world. This signature is an additional verification method alongside your password, device ID, IP address, and more.
The best part is that these digital documents are forever (or, at least, longer-lasting than their conventional counterparts). Keeping these records doesn’t take much space, especially because cloud-based storage is inexpensive. Most importantly, about 7.5% of all physical documents get lost, and with the cloud, this won’t be the case. Not only that, but these files will always be available on demand.
Now, the fact that these files are available on demand makes a much bigger difference than you initially assumed. Namely, since every construction worker and foreman has a device in their pocket, they can check these documents and contracts, check if they’re signed, and then act accordingly.
In other words, the communication between field teams and headquarters will be quicker, but so will the self-reliance of field teams. They’ll no longer have to wait for the news from headquarters in order to act.
With the help of construction eSignature, digital record-keeping will become much simpler and more convenient for everyone.
Document legality and compliance
One of the biggest problems people often overlook is that the ideal methodology of contract-making usually tends to be quite far from what happens. A document will be made in minutes and hours, and then people will wait for days and weeks for all the parties to sign it.
It takes time for the document to reach them, so they must send it back. With digital signatures, this can be done in a matter of minutes. Some might even argue that these quicker deals might be better for the industry since they reduce the likelihood of a client getting cold feet before they sign anything.
The thing is that these documents take so long to sign that people sometimes forget about them. It’s not like you have just one paper to sign, and if you don’t get it all right away, but in a piecemeal fashion, it’s easy to let an important document slip under the radar.
Documents in digital form can be sent in a matter of minutes, which means that the likelihood that something will be lost in transit is low. Also, digital documents will probably send notifications and alerts, which will be quite hard to ignore.
With massive and innovative projects, like the construction of vast solar fields, the number of documents and compliances that must be signed is simply staggering.
Time and cost savings
By now, you probably wonder – why the construction industry? Well, this is one of the fields that will never be handled remotely (until 3D printers get even more insanely powerful). The thing is that this is an industry that always has two types of teams – headquarters teams and field teams.
These communicate daily, and traveling back and forth would be a nightmare. Not only would it be expensive. It would also be highly impractical. Previously, we’ve mentioned that people used telegraphs and faxes to send these data, but how many construction sites had a telegram or a fax machine? This would only be likely for massive sites with container barracks and improvised offices.
Well, everyone has a phone nowadays; it’s not uncommon to see the foreman or a contractor walk around the site with a tablet, and even bringing a laptop wouldn’t be that big of a problem. This means anyone can check their email and issue a digital signature with just a few clicks and receive this signed document (work order or anything else).
In other words, remember that it’s cheaper and saves time even if you don’t want to do things this way.
Challenges of using digital signatures in construction projects
While things like technological compatibility and cybersecurity are huge issues, the truth is that the single biggest challenge to using digital signatures in construction is the resistance to change. Many companies (some of which could benefit from this the most) have trouble introducing this massive change.
Then, there’s the issue of legal and regulatory considerations. While there’s a global trend of switching to digital signatures, there’s still a significant hold-up in international jurisdictions. Some regions are slow to regulate and adapt these signatures, which can be a significant problem.
We’re still a long way from document standardization; before that happens, it will be impossible to establish this as an industry norm. Now, while the modern business world relies on internationalization and globalization of cooperation, this is still not as widespread in the construction industry.
In other words, while you may hire a construction company for a massive project from another country, most projects are still locally run. This means that all you need to do is check the local law regarding digital signatures. After this, you’re ready to go.
Wrap up
It’s not that far-fetched to say that, in the future, everything will be signed digitally, and for some very good reasons. Namely, digital signatures save time and money. They’re also more convenient, and it’s much easier for field teams to check up on digitally signed documents. With so many benefits, it’s only a matter of time before everyone adopts this rule. While early adoption has its merits, until the majority of the industry makes a transition, the concept will not be able to live up to its full potential.
